Ruins Raiders: Book Two
by Relm Wanderer
Summary: Professor Lina Inverse history professor of North Rixx University is at it again. This time she's not just chaising a relic a abroad but a whole lost city! But she's not the only one looking. It's race to see who will find it first. Sequel story to Ruins Raiders.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: As promised here is book 2! Well the first chapter of it that is. I have no idea how long this one will end up being or if there will be the third book in the series (doubtful of that at the moment) so we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully you all will enjoy this one as much as the first book in the Ruins Raiders series. Thanks for reading!_

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter One, A New Adventure

By Relm

Months ago there had been a battle of epic proportions that had occurred. The whole world could have descended into utter chaos had the outcome of the fight been different. Evil hadn't won, good had prevailed. And even though Lina Inverse famed Professor of North Rixx University had risked her life in that hectic battle not a damned person knew about the danger she faced that day.

To the rest of the world it had been a day like any other. The fools couldn't even have imagined how their lives could have changed if the outcome had been different that day. But no one did know and Lina's heroic efforts went unnoticed. There was no fancy party in her name, no key to the city no street named after her. The same went with the others who participated in that battle. There was no glory to be shared, just a lot of legal red tape.

In the aftermath of the battle there were a lot of strange things needing explaining to the authorities that wouldn't make sense unless you knew the whole story. But what police officer would believe that an ancient revived god was running amuck? No they were having enough trouble explaining how a presumed dead man was suddenly alive again after he had been dead for years.

It had been an exhausting ordeal but eventually everything got sorted out and everyone could get back to their normal lives.

Since the fight Lina hadn't seen hide or hair of her great-grandmother Nora Lockeheart. Nora was also one of the people that participated in the epic battle that saved the world. Not seeing or talking to her great-grandmother in quite some time might have worried Lina but she knew that Nora was safe. Nora was with her first love, Rezo Red the man who magically came back from the dead. Lina would get postcards and letters from the two as they traveled abroad. The most recent ones hinted at a possible wedding though Lina knew if the pair was going to get married they'd elope. So Lina wasn't expecting any wedding invitation.

And what of Rezo's great-grandson Zelgadis Greywars, Professor at East Rixx University? Well Zelgadis did as Lina did and went back to work once the dust was settled. He had promised to take her out on a date at some point after all the crazy was done but both them hadn't had the time. Being away from their respective jobs for so long after being tied up with legal issues they had mountains of work to do once they got back.

Lina was lucky she had Sylphiel, otherwise Lina's mountain of work would have been higher but it was still enough to keep her occupied. And just when she thought she was almost up to date Lina had been ordered to drop everything and get on a plane. As it turned out an old ancient tablet had been partially translated shedding new light to the whereabouts of the lost city of Velnqxbos. All across the world tablets and other ancient writings had been found about this fabled city and its people. History may have recorded the existence of these people but not where they lived. No one knew where the city had been nor what happened to its people. Until now that is.

With this partial translation it was a race to be the first ones to find the ruins of the city. Which meant Headmaster Gaberieve (Lina's boss) wanted North Rixx to be the ones to claim the honor of being the first ones to find Velnqxbos. Even though relations between East Rixx and North Rixx were better there was still a big rivalry amongst the two schools. Old habits did die hard after all. Even still East Rixx and North Rixx weren't the only ones looking for the city. Scholars all across the world were searching making this one crazy race.

Lina let out a tired sigh as she picked up her bags after she landed. She wanted nothing more than to check into a hotel and sleep for a week. The flight had been exhausting. Twelve hours on three different flights and not even first class either. Lina spent her whole time in the air trapped in a small coach seat surrounded by noisy people being rocked by the turbulence. Lina had wanted to sleep but given that she was on the plane ride from hell sleep was out of the question. And even if she could afford the luxury of a nap time after landing there was no real hotels to check into in the rural country of Jhonwxa. According to history the country had once been a lush green rainforest but was now mostly a barren desert.

To add insult to injury Lina was going to be doing this expedition all alone. So there was really no time to be wasted. Definitely no time for napping.

Usually when it came to relic hunting and raiding lost ruins Lina had the help of her assistant Gourry, middle son of Headmaster Gaberieve. It wasn't that Lina really needed Gourry the Headmaster just insisted Gourry go with her. Gourry did have his uses as he was tall, broad and good in a fight. Plus when it came to camping out in the wild it was always good to have someone else around to keep watch. But just the same Lina would rather not have him with her. Gourry did mean well but he tended to mess up more things than get them right.

The reason why Gourry couldn't accompany Lina on this recent expedition was because Gourry had broken his leg ice skating with his new girlfriend. Since the day he met her Gourry had been crushing on Lina's assistant Sylphiel. But he had never gathered up the courage to ask her out on a proper date. Any time they did go out Sylphiel didn't realize Gourry meant it to be a date. But after that battle things changed for Sylphiel a bit. Life seemed to be a shorter fleeting thing that Sylphiel didn't want to miss out on. So it was Sylphiel that broke the ice and asked Gourry to go on a date and two had been together since.

Lina had to chuckle at the turn of events. In all honestly she never thought Gourry could do it. And as it turned out she was right. Thinking about her assistants' love life made Lina think of her nonexistent one. Sure she was supposed to go out on a date with Zelgadis at some point but when would they ever find the time?

With luggage in hand Lina went about trying to rent a vehicle to use for her time in Jhonwxa. And by rent she meant buy and use till she went home. Lina didn't have her doubts she would find a person will to sell her a car or jeep or something but it would be a matter of whether or not it would break down on her.

Since it was just her Lina's options were a little wider. Usually she'd be stuck driving a car since Gourry was always with her. But since it was just herself that meant that Lina could get a motorcycle and Lina loved to ride them. It was never the practical choice back home so Lina always drove a car but out in a place like Jhonwxa which was mostly desert it was perfect choice. Well maybe not but Lina didn't care she wanted a motorcycle and that's what she was going to get. Or a jeep, because she liked jeeps too.

Outside what Jhonwxa's capital Uouoong was calling an airport Lina's senses were assaulted by blistering dry heat, exotic smells and sounds of local chatter. Shops and stands lined the street as people tried to peddle their wares. Though Lina was determined to get a vehicle her nose teamed up with her stomach and Lina found herself buying just about every type of food she could get her hands on. Everything was just so delicious that Lina just couldn't stop. One of the perks of traveling abroad. She did need to shop for supplies anyway so why not feed her gut at the same time?

Once her stomach was filled and supplies bought Lina found a man who told her of person selling vehicles. Of course Lina couldn't understand the man completely nor could he her so the person doing the selling was actually selling camels. Lina didn't have anything against camels but they weren't her favourite mode of transport. She put that idea in the back of her mind as she went from place to place trying to find an alternative. Ten different vendors later and Lina ended up in the shop right next to the camel guy. (The camel guy purposely didn't tell Lina about his neighbor because he wanted her to get a camel instead.)

A lot of the cars were clunkers and the few motorcycles there were rusted beyond repair. (The vehicles in proper working order had already been sold to other relic hunters searching for Velnqxbos.) In the end Lina still ended up with a camel.

After leading her new 'ride' out past the main city streets Lina readjusted her robe and head scarf. The sun was high and hot in the sky making her normal clothing a poor choice of wardrobe. Lina didn't like wearing the scarf but she knew it was necessary. Complete with a dark pair of sunglasses felt ready to face the challenges ahead. As Lina strapped her bags to the sides of the camel's saddle she looked over her fuzzy mode of transportation.

"I think I'm going to call you Petunia." Lina said to the camel as she climbed on top.

Petunia made a disgruntled noise as Lina did so probably because Petunia was actually a male camel and not female.

Lina made a clicking noise as she urged Petunia onwards with a nudge from the heels of her feet. The two of them had a long way to go and it would be longer still if Lina just hung around. While riding Lina took the time to go over her notes and GPS equipment. Lina herself had been studying the very same translated tablet that talked of Velnqxbos for fun on the side. If Lina had devoted all of her efforts into translating she knew she would have transcribed the whole thing. Even still looking over what was already translated Lina knew there were a few things wrong.

Yes there was no doubt in her mind that Velnqxbos was in Jhonwxa that much she confirm but the other details weren't so correct. If everyone read the translation and followed it without question then they would be searching for Velnqxbos in the northwest. Since Lina knew better and still questioned what she read she realized a very important word that was mistranslated. Though the symbols for sun and moon were different they almost looked exactly the same. The translator thought the tablet was talking about the sun but in reality it was moon. So while everyone would be looking to the northwest Lina knew to look in the northeast. But to start Lina was heading north first as there was road in that direction that wouldn't have her cross miles of desert. Along the way Lina had to laugh as she passed broken down cars on the side of the road with frustrated scholarly looking people trying to fix them. Yes maybe a camel was a better choice in the long run.

"So Petunia what do people do for fun around here?" Lina asked jokingly as she pulled her scarf more tightly around her head.

Petunia grunted in response.

...

Zelgadis cursed to himself as he tried to fix the piece of junk jeep he bought from that street vendor. It had looked okay when he got it but now Zelgadis was paying the price. Everything seemed to be broken or ready to fall apart. If where he was intending to go had been closer Zelgadis might have just said forget the jeep and walked to his destination. But it was far to go and even if he was close it would still be a very long walk back. He needed the jeep.

While Zelgadis worked on the jeep he saw many people pass him by. Some he figured to be locals but others were far too white to be from the country of Jhonwxa. He assumed those were others looking for the lost city though they were all heading towards the northwest. The sight made Zelgadis shake his head. Clearly they hadn't bothered to check over the translation of that tablet.

Taking a quick break to fan his face Zelgadis wiped the sweat from his brow before pulling his hood back over his head. As he did so he heard the sounds of a galloping camel coming from the road behind him. Zelgadis noticed right away that the figure riding the camel was a woman and what little he could see of her face told him that she was not a local. Even still she kept going riding her camel heading to the northeast as she passed him. Whoever the woman was not only was she smart but she was heading the right way.

Zelgadis was envious of the woman; he really should have gotten a camel instead. But that wasn't what Zelgadis was focused on. Who was this woman? And was she looking for the lost city of Velnqxbos too? If she was then Zelgadis had a real rival and really needed to get that jeep of his back in running order.

Still Zelgadis gave one last lingering glance at the woman riding the camel off into the desert. If it weren't for the near blinding sun Zelgadis might have seen the slight red glint of the few stray locks of hair shimmering in the light.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter Two, From East to South

By Relm

"Remind me again how you managed to let your father allow you go on this expedition?" A man with purple hair said to his traveling companion sitting next to him on the plane.

"OHOHOHOHOH! What are you complaining about? We are flying first class after all Xelly-dear."

Xellos had to laugh at his traveling companion's exuberant yet annoying laughter. "I wasn't complaining about the class we are traveling Miss Gracia I was merely wondering how you managed to convince your father it was a good idea for you and I to search for the lost city of Velnqxbos even though Zelgadis is already searching for it."

"OHOHOHOHOH! Naga, you shall address me as Naga." Naga corrected him while flipping her long black hair back. "And we are on our way to search for the lost city of Velnqxbos because I asked my daddy if we could and he said yes."

Xellos chuckled once more. He had been an assistant History professor at East Rixx University for quite some time and yet the Headmaster and his daughters never failed to surprise him. "Alright Miss Naga, tell me why exactly you want to look for this lost city? You're not the usual type to get your pretty hands dirty going on relic hunts. So why the sudden thirst for adventure?"

"Because Xelly-dear I'm bored of my day to day blah of a life. I want some excitement! Look at all the fun Zelgadis had with that little redheaded girl. I deserve to have as much fun as she did." Naga huffed crossing her arms.

"Oh really? Or are you just hoping that if you were on a thrilling adventure with our dear Professor Greywars that you'd get to cozy up with him?" Xellos prompted her with a wiggling eyebrow.

"It would be fun to cozy up to the professor."

"Well if he doesn't want to cozy up to you there is always me my dear."

"OHOHOHOHOHOH! You can be charming one Xelly but you don't charm me enough to get those liberties."

"That's because I've never really tried." Xellos smirked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oooh... does this mean you've snuck a few bottles of wine away in your luggage?" Naga smirked back while playing with an empty plastic glass on her tray. It had been filled at one point with the dark red liquid, many times in fact but now it was empty. The thought of another one was enough to bring a wickedness to Naga's little smile.

"Now now Miss Naga we're here to work not to play." Xellos waved a scolding finger at Naga.

"Very well I'll just have to chaise my man of grey then if you're going to be such a party pooper." Naga stated rather smugly while ringing the call button.

"Yes Miss?" A stewardess approached Naga from the aisle.

"I'd like more wine please." Naga held up her empty glass.

The stewardess cringed but took the glass with a strained smile. She and the rest of the plane crew were told to cater to all of Naga's needs and to not refuse the busty beauty of anything she wanted. It was a fine balancing act of keeping Naga happy but not rip roaring drunk.

"So where will my Zelgadis be when we land in Uouoong?"

"If you believe the translations then Velnqxbos should be in the northwest." Xellos explained.

"Then we'll head northwest when we land." Naga declared quite pleased with herself.

"No we'll head northeast." Xellos corrected her.

"Why? You just said Zelgadis is heading northwest." Naga whined.

"I said if one believed the translations then they'd be heading northwest. But I'm sure Zelgadis recognized the error in the translation so he'll be heading in the right direction which is northeast." Xellos explained.

"Ahhh... you are a smart little one aren't you?"

"Still don't think I'm charming enough?"

"If you get the stewardess to get me my wine faster then I'm sure I'll be thinking you're charming enough." Naga purred at him.

"Perhaps I should have a drink too. Stewardess! If you don't mind I'd sure love a glass myself." Xellos requested hailing down the flight attendant.

"Certainly sir."

...

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Can I get a glass of water please?!" Filia Ul Copt growled in frustration as she tried to flag down the one stewardess in charge of tending to those in coach class. But as it was everyone was trying to get the attention of that one poor stewardess making Filia very irritated. "Why do they have so few flight attendants working on this end of the plane?!"

"Because it's coach." Filia's step-brother Val reminded her through gritted teeth while trying very hard to refrain from yelling at the kid kicking the back of Val's seat.

"I don't care it should be better staffed!" Filia crossed her arms in a huff.

"It would be better staffed if that loser of university we work for actually put in the decent traveling dollars to get us a better class." Val grumbled.

"Our university isn't a loser school!" Filia was quick to defend their school, South Rixx University. Filia was the head ancient history professor and Val was her assistant.

South Rixx wasn't original called South Rixx University. Its original name was Rixx University as it was established long before its northern, western and eastern counterparts came to be. Being the oldest one might assume it would be the most successful of the schools but that wasn't so. Because of the go getter attitudes of the brains of North Rixx and East Rixx Universities most of the glory to be shared was already taken by them. As such when it came time to get outside investors the money was shared much like the glory. All going to the north and east and few to the south and west.

It wasn't like South Rixx never tried to make the breakthrough discoveries and bring home priceless relics. Often Filia was just a few steps behind Lina or Zelgadis mainly due to miscommunication with local governments and law enforcements. Val's explosive temper tended to get the pair into their fair share of trouble. Many times Filia had to bail her step-brother out of jail for some international incident Val caused. And given that Filia's temper wasn't also the best it could be sometimes Filia made things worse.

This time things were going to be different. Filia was determined to find Velnqxbos before anyone else. It was lofty goal was just about the whole world was looking for the lost city but Filia was confident they would come out victorious.

"I swear if you don't stop kicking my seat I'm going to rip those damned legs off!" Val turned around to yell at the child sitting behind him.

"Val don't scream at kids on the plane." Filia sighed in exasperation. "Remember what happened the last time you did that? It took me three days to get you out of that small dirty prison."

"Well it got him to stop kicking." Val said triumphantly. However Val's triumph was short lived. The kid started kicking again. "Grrrr..."

"Let it go Val."

"You see this is why our school sucks! If they actually put out the money to let us fly in a better class then we'd be better rested when we land. And if we're better rested we'd be able to work and think more clearly. But no Headmaster Phibrizzo is a cheap-ass." Val grumbled.

"I'm sure North Rixx and East Rixx doesn't send their people on expeditions on first class flights." Filia assured him.

"Really you're sure? Maybe I should ask one of them when we bump into them during the search." Val dared her.

"Oh no you won't because you're not going to be seeing them at all!" Filia snapped.

"I won't? What do you have them tied up in your basement somewhere?"

"No." Filia looked at her step-brother with disgust. "We're not going to be seeing them because they aren't going to be anywhere near Velnqxbos."

"What are you talking about? Of course they are going to be looking for the lost city; everyone in the damned world is looking right now." Val was quick to shoot back.

"That's not what I meant. Have you looked over the pictures of the tablet and its supposed translation?"

Val frowned in confusion. "Yes and it looks like a sound translation to me."

"And it would be however there is one mistake the translator made. The signs for sun and moon are almost exactly the same. Not surprising since they are both round sources of light traveling across the sky. The tribe of people that the tablet originates from believed that the sun and moon was a two headed god which only could show one face during different parts of the day."

"So it wasn't the sun the tablet was referring to it was the moon?" Val guessed.

"That's right."

"If the symbols are so similar how can you be sure that you're not the one that mixed up the signs?" Val pointed out.

"The symbols are mirror images of each other and the eyes are always looking to the direction they are setting to. The symbol is a moon for sure." Filia insisted.

"Well if you're right and it really is the moon then that would mean... Velnqxbos would be in the northeast and not the northwest." Val concluded.

"That's right." Filia exclaimed.

"If you know that and you're pretty smart wouldn't that Greywars guy and Inverse girl also come to same conclusion as you?" Val wondered.

"No... because I'm... smarter..." Filia said weakly.

Val just rolled his eyes. "So that means you're just hoping they missed it."

"Well if they took off as quickly as everyone else did they wouldn't have had the time to make the same conclusion as me!" Filia countered in a very desperate voice.

"You're reaching." Val ribbed her.

"I can be hopeful can't I?!"

Val just rolled his eyes again. "QUIT KICKING MY SEAT YOU BRAT!" Val screamed at the child once more. "I hate coach! I feel like we're stuck in a sardine can!"

"You think this is bad wait until we get on the connection flight that takes us to Uouoong. This is going to feel like first class compared to that flight." Filia taunted him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter Three, Stars, Fire and Tents

By Relm

The desert was a strange place at night. During the day it was hot and unforgiving but at night it was a whole different world. Gone away was the hot blistering sun to be replaced by the dark coldness of night. It was such a stark contrast that it would make anyone shiver.

Lina was aware of what she was going into so she knew what she'd need to do to camp out in the desert. As soon as it started to get dark Lina stopped to set up camp. She pulled out her pop up tent from her luggage and started up a fire.

The darkening sky turned pitch black but lit up with billions of stars. It was the kind of sight you could never see in a busy city. With no artificial lights to obstruct the stars light they were free to twinkle to their brightest bright. It was beautiful and awe inspiring. If Lina were a spiritual person she might have laid back and stared into the diamond crusted heavens and pondered life and all its mysteries.

But this wasn't the first time Lina had camped out in a remote place nor was she a particularly spiritual person. So the beauty was completely lost on Lina. Stars, you've seen them once you've seen them all that was Lina's attitude.

However one thing that never got old for Lina was fire. There was nothing that relaxed Lina more when camping out than staring into a roaring fire. The way the flames danced and licked the wood as it burned. Lina could spend hours staring into a campfire without even realizing how time had passed.

Even as interesting as the fire was it didn't completely capture Lina's attention this time. Lina was used to making several trips abroad a year searching for relics. And even when she was looking for relics she would often be studying the relics she had previously brought home. Since the whole business with the three eyes of Trinibee Lina had been doing neither. She got to work on teaching paperwork but nothing relicwise.

Being on this current adventure made Lina think about the days when she was first starting out except without all the nervous excitement. Lina had gotten used to having someone there with her as she traveled. She recalled the many times she just wanted to get lost staring into the dancing flames only to have annoyingly stupid questions thrown at her by Gourry.

Sitting in the sand staring at the fire Lina only had Petunia as her company and a camel wasn't a good conversationalist. It was funny because at the start of this journey Lina had been thinking how it would be good not to have Gourry along to mess things up.

Scratch that she wasn't missing Gourry; she was just missing having company. Any person would do. Like perhaps a man with short bluish lavender hair and steel blue eyes?

That thought cause a naughty little smirk to creep up Lina's face. She had to wonder what the East Rixx professor was up to. Was he still stuck in legal hell or had he finally been released from his sentence for good behavior? And if he was free was he searching for the same thing she was?

The odds didn't seem likely as it was too soon. But then again the same could be said about Lina. Headmaster Sailune was just as overzealous as Headmaster Gaberieve so Zelgadis could be on the hunt just like her.

That sly little smile on Lina's face broadened. She always did her best work when she had competition and Zelgadis was probably going to be her only worthwhile adversary.

Knowing what she knew about the translation Lina figured that most of those chasing the lost city would be heading in the wrong direction. If there was anyone who would realize the error and be going the right way it would be Zelgadis Greywars.

...

In another part of the desert not too far away a jeep was parked in the middle of the sand just behind a dune. This jeep wasn't parked because it had broken down (though it had already done that earlier in the day) but rather because the driver had decided to stop for the night. The driver had a tent amongst his belongings but hadn't bothered to set it up.

Zelgadis wasn't one to be adverse to sleeping in tents but since he had wasted all that money and time on the jeep he was going get some use out of it and sleep in it for the night. But that didn't mean that Zelgadis wasn't going to build a fire so the art of camping wasn't completely lost on him.

The fire crackled and hissed demanding the attention of all those near it though Zelgadis' mind was a thousand miles away. He was grateful to be back to going on adventures again but somehow things felt off. He was used to travelling alone. Sometimes he would have Xellos with him on these trips but those ones were never enjoyable. Xellos was extremely annoying when he wanted to be and it seemed that Xellos always want to be. So if there was a chance that Zelgadis could go alone on any of his relic hunts he jumped at the chance.

That was before all this business with the three eyes of Trinibee. Sure he did go and find the second eye on his own but after that it was a whirlwind of activity that had him thrown together with North Rixx's head history professor, Lina Inverse.

He had never spent that much time with anyone ever in his life and it had been a real eye opener. Zelgadis always pegged himself to be a loner that didn't really need anyone. Sure it could be lonely but Zelgadis had come to terms with that a long time ago. As much as he had tried with relationships in the past they had never really worked. He had just assumed that he'd never find anyone that would work.

As it turned out Zelgadis wasn't as much of a loner as he thought. Lina Inverse was the complete opposite of the kind of respectable woman he'd ever imagine himself with. She was brash, loud and in your face. She didn't take crap from anyone and she didn't care if she was rude doing it. Lina was also smart, beautiful, funny and spontaneous. She was delightful chaos wrapped in a pretty petite package.

Spending all the time with a woman like Lina should have made Zelgadis insane and want to kill himself but it was strange that he didn't. At first she was annoying but he found himself not only getting used to her annoying habits but actually starting to like them. He found her quirky little traits enduring even when she was purposely teasing him.

In such a short amount of time Zelgadis had gotten used to having company and now he was feeling very much alone. He found himself wondering what Lina was doing. Staring up at the night sky he wondered if she looking up too. That is until he thought about how cheesy that sounded and then he went back to staring at the fire.

'When did you get so pathetic?' Zelgadis mentally asked himself while shaking his head. The fire offered a nice distraction to completely void his mind of noisy thoughts. Just like looking at an aquarium a fire was relaxing to stare at as it made your mind clear. Naturally though if the person whom is occupying your mind happens to have hair that looks very much like fire this feat was harder to accomplish.

He didn't want to but the fire just made Zelgadis think about Lina's hair, eyes and face. It was annoying. Really annoying. Still he had to wonder what Lina was doing at that moment. Was she searching for the lost city too? Or was she stuck back at her university grading papers?

Given how competitive their two schools had to be Zelgadis assumed that if Headmaster Gaberieve wasn't sending Lina on this expedition then he would have sent someone else in her place. There was no way he was going to miss out on a potential discovery for his school. So it became a question of whom Headmaster Gaberieve would send.

If Zelgadis were to place a guess he'd assume that Headmaster Gaberieve would send his son Gourry and Lina's assistant Sylphiel. As Lina had already told Zelgadis, Sylphiel was a very smart and educated woman so she would make the best choice. But Zelgadis had to wonder if Sylphiel's researching and translating skills were as good as Lina's. Would Sylphiel see the error that was made in the initial translation?

'Probably not.' Zelgadis thought to himself. 'Meaning this one is all East Rixx this time. No glory for the north.'

That thought should have made Zelgadis smile but instead he just frowned. It wasn't like he lived for competition but he did like to have a little bit of a challenge. It took all the fun out of things of it if it was all too easy.

"Well here's hoping it's you Lina I'm running against." Zelgadis held his canteen up in the air to toast his fiery rival.

...

"I don't understand why we couldn't have gotten a car or motorcycle." Naga grumbled as she sat herself down in a protesting huff. "I don't like camels, they smell." She sneered at her camel whom actually appeared to sneer right back at her.

"Miss Naga I can assure you that in the middle of a desert a camel is more of a safer choice for long distance travel." Xellos tried to appease his charge for whom he was 'babysitting' during the duration of this adventure.

"I suppose. If we run out of food it's always good to have something with you that's living that you can kill and eat if needs be. OHOHOHOHOH!"

Xellos let out an evil chuckle of his own. "My Miss Naga, you can be quite wicked at times."

"Does that bother you?"

"No, not at all."

Naga gave him a dirty little smirk. "You know I could have easily been talking about eating you and not the camel you know."

"And wickeder still." Xellos laughed while shaking his head.

Though the pair had gotten off to a late start it didn't make much sense to travel all through the night just to potentially catch up to Zelgadis. So instead Xellos and Naga chose to stop and make camp. At present Xellos was putting up the tent while Naga was lounging around doing nothing. Usually that was Xellos' favourite past time when traveling with Zelgadis but he knew that he'd have to be proactive one this time.

Naga was as much of a princess as any princess living in a big fancy castle with hundreds of servants and a jewel encrusted tiara would be. The university was Naga's castle, the teaching staff and university workers bended to every whim and although she didn't have jewels Naga did have a big fat bank account that afforded her whatever she pleased. Naga was a spoiled girl used to having people do whatever she wanted for her.

"OHOHOHOH! I never thought a desert would be so cold. I'm positively freezing!" Naga shivered.

"I did warn you that your choice of wardrobe wasn't a good idea for traveling the desert. You should be wearing the clothing I bought you and not a low cut half top and short shorts." Xellos advised her.

Naga rolled her eyes. "Those clothes are boring and not worthy of being donned by the great Naga the Beautiful! Anything that covers up this stunning body is rags."

"Still it would help your current condition temporarily until I start making the fire." Xellos suggested.

"OHOHOHOH! I shall think not! You servant boy will make fire at once!" Naga commanded as though she was a regal queen.

"I still have to finish putting up the tent. Perhaps if you helped me with it I would finish faster?" Xellos wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! I shall think not! Finish the tent at once! Do not keep me waiting! OHOHOHOHOHOH!" Naga's laughs were loud and obnoxious which was exactly how she was acting. She liked acting like a powerful queen even though she was just the daughter of a university headmaster.

"Yes my queen." Xellos played along having just as much fun as Naga.

...

"What the hell is that annoying sound?" Val grumbled as he fought with the tent. "It sounds like... hell I don't know what the hell it sounds like but it's annoying!"

"I have no idea Val." Filia grumbled back as she tried to get a fire started. She and Val had bought all the supplies they needed for their trip but Filia was having as much fun trying to start a fire as Val was getting their tent up.

"You're supposed to be an expert that this sort of crap! What animal is that?!"

"I don't know! I'm not a wilderness expert Val! I study old ancient ruins, books and relics! Quit bothering me I'm trying to get this fire going.

_OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!_

"Damn there it is again! I hope I don't hear that thing all night." Val muttered as worked on the tent.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter Four, Traveling Quandaries 

By Relm

They were all tired, all six of them. Between the flights, time zone differences and trekking through the desert all six of them should have no trouble sleeping at all. But the brain was a conditioned organ. Even though the night was dark and not light like the usual mornings the brain didn't let the absence of light fool it. The brain knew it wasn't time for sleep and be damned if it was going to let the body sleep. Bedtime was many hours away.

It was very frustrating to have your whole body aching and screaming for rest when your brain was deciding differently. In this were a case back home and not in the middle of a desert there were a few things the adventurers could do in order to help sleep. Calming music, warm milk, sleep aids... All things not at their immediate disposal.

For Lina this was an annoying kick in the pants. She was the type of person that tried to prepare herself for every possible relic hunting situation. Her bags were always packed with weapons and tools to use in case of an emergency, she always had sensible clothing for the area she was traveling in and she always made sure she memorized the maps of the terrains she would be traveling. In fact Lina was so used to traveling to strange and exotic locations that she had her bag packing down to a science.

This time however wasn't quite so normal. Lina had been rushed to get a start on this hunt that she didn't get the proper time to really make sure she packed things right. She had thought she had packed her sleeping pills but when she went through her pack she was angry when she realized it wasn't there. Since she had no milk to warm Lina could have gone for some calming music via her mp3 player. There was two problems with that idea, one her mp3 player didn't really have a lot of calming music and two, it was nearly dead. Lina had meant to charge it before she left though she hadn't realized she'd be leaving so quickly. Her player pretty much died on her during the flights she took. If she bothered to turn it on it would only play for half a song at most before quitting on her again.

All that Lina could do was toss and turn in her tent. Not such an easy task when one was sleeping in a sleeping bag. It was one thing Lina never liked about the times she had to camp out on a trip. She hated sleeping in sleeping bags. Lina was one of those people that loved to be able to stretch out when she slept and not be confined to a small space. That being said no matter how stretched out she was when she fell asleep Lina always woke up in the next morning curled up in a little ball. Lina wasn't a cold weather person after all.

A few dunes down Zelgadis laid in the backseat of his jeep with his eyes wide open staring at the roof of said jeep. Zelgadis was an insomniac on the best of days so he had expected to be spending a sleepless night. Unlike Lina however Zelgadis had packed his sleep aids – not that they were helping any.

In the Filia and Val's tent only of the two step-siblings was asleep. Val true to his nature could fall asleep anywhere and anytime. This was a great annoyance to Filia as she was not as blessed and Val was a loud snorer. It didn't matter how many times Fila smacked him with her traveling mace Val would always go straight back to snoring. She figured this was the reason Val couldn't keep a girlfriend. That and his loud angry personality sucked.

Probably the only camp where all parties was getting proper sleep was Naga and Xellos' camp. Being that Naga always insisted on traveling with her special companions - several bottles of wine. The pair from East Rixx had gotten good and drunk before retiring off to bed. And even though Xellos had flirted Naga up some nothing was going on between the two that night.

So with only one out of the four camps getting any real sleep it was a hellish morning when the sun made its appearance for the day. Gone away was the cool breeze just to be replaced by his friend waves of rolling heat. It was like you were looking through water as you stared into the distance. The terrain seemed to danced around as the hot weather distorted the horizon.

All four parties were well armed with liquids to drink but still the notion of a desert oasis was a pleasant idea. A cool relaxing place with trees to sleep under while you dipped your feet in the water. One might have assumed that there might be an oasis at the area where the lost city was but that would just be wishful thinking. Since the translation went public many planes had flown over the desert to see if the lost city of Velnqxbos could be spotted from the air. Each fly over proved fruitless as there were areas that looked suspicious but weren't anything.

Lina was sure that if any of the lost city of Velnqxbos was still intact that it would be buried under layers and layers of sand. Definitely not a chance of any oasis to be found making water rationing a very important thing. But when one looks out into the dry arid sun drenched horizon it was hard to fight the convulsions to guzzle ones water.

This wasn't Lina's first rodeo nor was it for most of them. Naga was the only inexperienced adventurer in the bunch but she had Xellos to take her canteen and wine away from her. That didn't fly well with the 'princess' but it was Xellos' job to keep her safe.

The sun heated down on the backs of those that traveled the desert. The only one who was free from the harmful rays was Zelgadis. He was the only one that chose a jeep over a camel so he didn't have to deal with the annoying effects of direct sunshine. The East Rixx professor practically sailed the desert sand waves as he raced along. Windows down and sunshades on Zelgadis felt on top of the world. He wasn't a reckless driver as a norm but something about driving so freely off road where there was no real rules and other cars made Zelgadis feel like he could anything.

It was nice driving the jeep like that given that he had already lost so much time having to fix the thing the previous day. As he drove his thoughts drifted to the person who passed him riding a camel. He hadn't meant to but while Zelgadis was fixing the jeep he kept looking at the figure of that person as they rode away. He couldn't be say for sure it seemed like the figure veered off into the direction he meant to head. It made him wonder if that person was someone else looking for the lost city of Velnqxbos. If they were and did in fact head in the direction that Zelgadis thought they did then Zelgadis most definitely had competition.

Of course there were two possibilities that went against that line of thinking. One it was just a local traveling by camel the common method of travel. Or Zelgadis had just been seeing things and the traveler went a different way.

Still Zelgadis did find himself mulling over the possibilities as he drove. The nervous energy bubbling up inside him almost burst when he noticed he was coming up on a person riding a camel. He couldn't be sure it was same person riding that same camel but the nerves in his stomach seemed to think so. The desire to pass this possible rival and make them eat his dust was a strong urge. Zelgadis found himself pushing down on the gas pedal in an effort to go faster. He had to pass that person riding that camel.

Though Zelgadis was determined to pass the camel riding person the jeep was not. Cars didn't always do well in hot climates especially when driving in a dusty sandy one. So as Zelgadis got closer to that person on the camel the jeep once again kicked the bucket.

"Nooooo! Not again!" Zelgadis cried out in frustration as the jeep puttered and stopped. Smoke started to rise from under the hood and up into the air. Putting the stopped vehicle in park Zelgadis let out a big sigh before getting out to fix the jeep again.

...

Up ahead Lina paused to look backwards. She had heard the jeep and had been started to see it getting so close. When she had passed that man on the side of the road the previous day she had assumed it was just another stupid person searching for the lost city in the wrong area. It sure as hell hadn't been a local. But Lina had never expected to see that person again. This meant that she wasn't the only one searching for the city in the right area. It had to be the case, as she couldn't think of any reason why someone would be driving in a jeep in that particular area.

Thoughts ran through her mind as Lina tried to guess the identity of this potential rival. It was a very short list of whom Lina thought had the mental skills to figure out the translation problem. Of those few people the top one of on her list had been on her mind the previous night. Zelgadis Greywars.

Lina had no proof it was Zelgadis but just the same she was sure of it. She could just imagine how the lavender haired professor was cursing the jeep as he tried to fix it. It would surely give him a start if she just sauntered her way over there.

Really that is what Lina should have done. Zelgadis wasn't just any normal guy but a guy she was sort of involved with. Well potentially going to be involved with if work and personal lives allowed it. Zelgadis would be surly happy to see her and the two of them could spend some time cozying up together as they searched for the lost city of Velnqxbos. It was a very attractive idea that almost had Lina turning around and heading towards the smoking jeep.

Two things stopped Lina from doing this. One was that she wasn't absolutely certain it was Zelgadis. It didn't seem likely but it could have been someone else. And one rule of thumb when it came to traveling abroad especially in the more dangerous or impoverish areas of a country it wasn't good to take chances. Anyone could be trying to scam you or potentially hurt you. Lina was a risk taker but not when it came to these sort of things.

The second reason why Lina wasn't about to turn back was because of her competitive nature. She was on the hunt to find the lost city of Velnqxbos. It wasn't like she wanted to share credit even if it was with man whom she liked and respected. No her school sent her out to find the lost city not to help someone else find it with her. Lina was determined to be the first one at the city and get the all the credit.

'Hopefully I'll see you in Velnqxbos soon Zel. I'll be waiting.' Lina thought to herself with a devilish smirk as she and Petunia rode off.

...

Going at a slow but steady pace Xellos and Naga rode their camels in an effort to catch up to Zelgadis.

"Can't I have a little bit of wine?" Naga whined.

"No I'm sorry my dear that would be good for you in this heat. You'll get very dehydrated if you did drink any of it." Xellos advised her.

"Then I want some water." Naga demanded in her typical snotty princess like fashion.

"You just had some a little while ago. We need to be careful with how much and how often we drink. Water isn't something we can waste."

Naga pouted while crossing her arms. Her camel looked up at her not impressed with her one bit. Still the camel kept going even though Naga wasn't guiding him.

"Now now Princess don't pout this is all part of the adventure. And that's what you wanted after all, adventure. Otherwise we wouldn't be out here in the desert." Xellos reminded her.

"I wanted adventure? Yes. This is not adventure, this is tedious!" Naga exclaimed.

"Sadly adventures are not all fun and excitement all the time. Tedium is a part of it. It will get more interesting later I promise."

"What about Zelgadis. How far away is he?"

"Miss Naga I have no way to tell that. We don't even know what method of travel he chose. He could be riding a camel or driving a vehicle."

"Is there not tracks in front of us? Is that not what we're following?" Naga prompted him.

"There is tracks but we're not following them. We're just coincidently heading in the same direction."

"Then that must be Zelgadis. Who else would know where the true location of the lost city would be?" Naga stuck her nose up in the air.

"Well if it is Zelgadis then he's probably driving a jeep. Not a smart choice but then Zelgadis isn't always the smarted choice himself." Xellos decided with a small little smile.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOH! So you're the smarter choice?! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! Now that is a laugh!"

Rather than say something witty as a comeback Xellos stuck his tongue out at her. Childish but effective.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter Five, Follow the Leader

By Relm

As Lina traveled the desert there were many times when the mysterious person driving the jeep would get close. Lina was still figured it was Zelgadis though she didn't stop to check. She had decided she would see who it was when they finally caught up to her. Strangely though never Lina got that chance. It was like fate was purposely keeping them apart as the jeep would always crap out when he or she was close.

If Lina were to guess she would say it was the car's engine was overheating. There were many times Lina had to deal with that with her old car. That particular car had been totaled during the last adventure with Zelgadis so it amused her that it was now him with the car trouble.

Days went by and Lina got nearer and nearer to where the lost city of Velnqxbos was supposed to be. It wasn't a matter of traveling a far distance anymore. Being as close as she now was the ruins of the city could be anywhere. It made the chance of over shooting the site a real possibility so Lina's pace had slowed considerably.

The area she was currently in had more to look at than just sand. This area was mostly jagged rock of varying heights. These little hills had massive cracks throughout creating cave like areas for creatures to dwell within. That and big slabs of rock had appeared to had fallen and had landed against others creating more sheltered spots. It didn't look particularly interesting as it seemed like just a rocky patch in the desert but Lina had a different idea.

Now one could make the assumption that this area of rock was special. That the rocks themselves where broken fragments of what might have been a building from the lost city. But this wasn't why Lina found this area interesting. These sort of rock patches were common in the desert. What made this one special was that it was roughly in the right area where the city could possibly be.

It did make sense that the city wouldn't have been spotted from the air with this particular spot. The rock face jutted out in spots shielding the area underneath from overhead.

Lina guessed that this area of rock was once a mountain that had had large chunks fall off. Add in the years of weather damaged and the once mighty mountain was now a group of hills. It kinda reminded Lina of a pile of building blocks that had been thrown to the ground. The rocks themselves were scattered in an odd shaped pile.

There were still other possible areas where the lost city could be but Lina decided to stop and check this area first. At the very least she knew that anyone following her trail would also stop to check even if they saw Lina's tracks leading away. When it came to archeology it was always best to leave no stone unturned. It was all too common to hear in the news of something new being discovered in areas that had already been previously investigated. If one wasn't careful and throughout then you could miss an amazing discovery. Lina wasn't about to pass any potential area until she had completely made sure there was nothing there.

Petunia made a large grunting noise as Lina pulled on the reigns. Clearly the camel hadn't wanted to stop but he did so anyway to let Lina could get off. Lina walked Petunia closer to the rock area in a shaded spot before unpacking her stuff. With no real area to tie Petunia's reigns to Lina pulled out a spike, hammer and a rope from her bag. She hammered the spike into the rock face and tied the rope to it and the reigns. It let Petunia have freedom of movement but still kept the camel near.

"You're going to be a good camel and not go wandering." Lina said to Petunia while pouring some water into a dish for him.

Petunia grunted again but happily drank the water.

"Time to get to work!" Lina exclaimed with glee as she gathered up her tools.

...

Zelgadis was annoyed. Every time he got close to that person riding the camel the jeep crapped out on him. It was extremely frustrating as he was dammed sure it was Lina ahead of him. The thought of Lina getting the best of him yet again was really getting his competitive blood running. And if it wasn't Lina ahead of him then she sure as hell was behind him.

During one of his many jeep troubles Zelgadis had decided look back from whence he came. It was more of him pondering how he'd ever make it back with his unreliable jeep than to see if there was anyone coming up behind. But it was then that he saw it. Off in the distance two people riding camels heading the same direction he was going. Immediately Zelgadis thought of Lina's assistant Gourry. It seemed more likely that Lina wouldn't be traveling alone with Gourry at her disposal. So it was logical to assume that it was Lina with her assistant riding those two camels behind him.

It was logical and Zelgadis was a logical person but he didn't believe Lina was one of the two behind. Mostly because if that was true then who the hell was ahead of him? Zelgadis couldn't think of anyone who could best him beside Lina. Lina was his greatest rival after all. There were other scholars, researchers, and doctors from across the globe to consider but Zelgadis didn't put much faith in them. The best and brightest where from Greater Rixx after all.

Still Zelgadis was curious but not so enough to stop and look. There was a distinct possibility that whomever was following him was only doing so because they saw Zelgadis go another way. Zelgadis had no interest in giving a helping hand to someone riding his coat tails. He was going to get way ahead of those following him and the person ahead of him.

Since he had decided that Greater Rixx held the best and brightest then Zelgadis could have considered West Rixx or South Rixx Universities as rivals. It wasn't as if Zelgadis didn't think highly of the other two schools he just didn't think they would sending anyone of this particular expedition.

Of the two universities West Rixx was the youngest. With the market already well covered on ancient studies West Rixx was more focused on progress and innovation. The university did have an ancient studies department but the main focus of the school was technology and biology. Robotic engineering, medicine, genetics, physics... it was a very science heavy establishment. Rather than spend money to send people to Jhonwxa West Rixx would use their resources to create better surgical equipment or find ways to better treat genetic disorders.

South Rixx on the other hand was actually a contender for Zelgadis and Lina. Being the oldest of the Greater Rixx universities they were actually the reason the best and brightest had flocked to Rixx over the years. But as new schools opened there was less and less game for South Rixx to play. The university itself was drifting off into financial troubles as of late. Zelgadis those from South Rixx were capable but did they have the resources?

Actually thinking about South Rixx gave Zelgadis reason to chuckle. South Rixx's head of ancient studies was someone he knew quite well. She was temperamental (seemed to be a requirement for the women working that field) and had many run ins with his assistant Xellos.

Xellos and Filia got on like oil and water. Their fights were both explosive and legendary. Xellos would take any opportunity to get Filia's goat and Filia would give back as much as she was given. The problem was that it was very hard for anyone to get under Xellos' skin. So as such the blond South Rixx professor would get even more frustrated with Xellos when she wouldn't get the rise she wanted.

In the battle of Xellos versus Filia it seemed like Xellos was always the victor. Filia would stomp her way off like a giant movie monster might stomp through a busy city. But as it was the battles were sometimes won off the battlefield. Filia would forget about Xellos as soon as she was away but Xellos would obsess. He so consumed with ways to irritate the golden haired professor that he'd stalk her on the internet and plan 'chance' meetings with her.

Zelgadis always loved ribbing Xellos about his Filia obsession. He'd accuse his assistant of being in love with their South Rixx rival. Xellos would scoff at this but he would get clearly upset whenever he saw on Filia's facebook that she was going out with a guy. There even was a couple times where Xellos purposely sabotaged some of Filia's dates. This gave Zelgadis more ammunition to throw at Xellos. If he didn't love Filia then why ruin her dates? Xellos would counter because he wanted her to be alone and miserable.

It had occurred to Zelgadis to contact Filia to let her know of her stalker and his secret feelings for her. The results would be disastrous be very entertaining. Doing anything to get Xellos going was worth its weight in gold. Xellos did deserve it after all – he did annoy everyone. Including Filia's step-brother and assistant Val. Filia was known to resort to violence when it came to Xellos, but Val... Val would actually try and kill Xellos. The last time Zelgadis had even considered doing nothing when Val was choking Xellos to death. Not that it mattered – Filia was the one that 'saved' Xellos. Though if you asked her she did because she didn't want her step-brother to go to jail for murder not because she actually cared for Xellos' well being. Xellos had offered to kiss her to thank her. She stomped on his face for his trouble before throwing him into an open trash bin.

"To bad Xellos isn't with me. If that's Filia with her step-brother Val coming up behind then it would have been fun seeing Xellos get beaten to a pulp." Zelgadis chuckled to himself.

...

"OHOHOHOH! That dastardly handsome Zelgadis keeps getting away from us!" Naga mused as she urged her camel to go faster. Naga's camel looked back at her, sneered and kept going at the same pace.

"Well we are getting closer. We will catch up to him sooner or later." Xellos replied in a bit of a far away voice. He was looking back at the stretch of desert behind them.

"Now what is so interesting that you have to keep looking backwards?!" Naga demanded feeling put off that Xellos' attention was divided and not solely on her.

"There are at least two people going the same way as us. I saw them a little ways back. Either we're being followed or it's someone else that knows the lost city is in this direction."

Naga looked backwards as well though there was nothing to see but sand. "I do not see anyone... who do you think it is?"

"Since it's two... I'd have to say it's Miss Lina and her assistant Mister Gourry."

Naga scrunched up face in an ugly frown. "Oh how I detest that little boy girl! The nerve of her stealing my Zelgadis away for such a long time! She's not even pretty enough for my Zelgadis! If it's her then I hope she runs out of water or her camel knocks her off! OHOHOHOHOHOH!"

"That's quite evil of you Miss Naga." Xellos commented with a sly smile.

"OHOHOHOHOH! I think I'm quite justified! Oh! What if it's not the little tomboy but that girlfriend of yours?"

Xellos eyes were uncharacteristically wide as he glared at Naga. "Excuse me? I have no girlfriend." He corrected her with a huff.

"OHOHOHOHOHO! Did she dump you?"

"She did not dump me! She is not my girlfriend!" Xellos insisted almost growling.

"Oh? That's right she's never said yes to you! My poor little Xellos always being scorned by the ones he loves."

"I do not love Filia Ul Copt!" Xellos yelled.

"Sure sure. Though if it is her then who would be traveling with her?"

"It's not Filia. And if it were then she would be traveling with her temperamental step-brother Val." Xellos explained.

"Val hmmm? What does this Val look like? Is he handsome?"

"Really Miss Naga?" Xellos raised an eyebrow at his traveling companion. "So quick to move on from 'your' Zelgadis to something new?"

"That depends on how pretty the new shiny thing is."

"I supposed he would be considered pleasing to the eye. Though he is a grumpy one, more so then his step-sister. He's tried to kill me on many occasions."

"OHOHOHOHOH! Did he reject your love too?"

Xellos was so surprised by Naga's comment that he fell of his camel. "Why would you suggest such a thing?!"

"Well you are a girly man after all. Pretty men like you don't always chaise after girls."

"I chaise girls, thank you very much!" Xellos huffed while getting back on top of his camel.

"If that is the golden haired one from South Rixx then she's the one chasing you."

"It's Miss Lina." Xellos insisted.

"Oh? How can you be so sure?"

"Because, it wouldn't make sense for it to be Filia. Miss Lina would have to be on the chaise for the lost city. If anyone else were to realize the error in the translation it would most likely be Miss Lina." Xellos surmised. It did in fact make sense though Xellos was also insisting it was Lina because he would rather it be her than Filia. The golden haired South Rixx professor had a way of distracting him from his goals.

...

"I want to know what hell that noise was! It's annoying!" Val growled.

"I don't know Val... stop obsessing over it!" Filia pleaded.

"But we've hearing it for days now! It's driving me crazy!"

"You're driving me crazy! It's probably just some silly creature that isn't worth the effort Val."

"I don't care! I want to know what the hell it is! What sort of creature makes calls during the day and at night?!"

Filia just shook her head and went back to ignoring him. 'I should have gone on this trip by myself...'


	6. Chapter 6

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter Six, Hello Again

By Relm

Usually when Lina worked on assignment her attention was completely undivided. She was after all a very dedicated person and always gave projects her all. It was one of the reasons why Lina was one of the best. But on this particular case Lina found herself looking off into the horizon every so often as she worked.

Unless the jeep had completely broken down on him then Zelgadis or whomever was driving the jeep would eventually end up coming to where Lina was looking. It was silly for her to keep scanning the desert expecting to see the jeep. No doubt she would have heard it first before spotting it anyway but still she looked.

Though Lina really did expect that it was Zelgadis that was driving that jeep there was still the possibility that it could be someone else driving. And even though she was in the middle of the dessert this country wasn't the most friendliest to travellers especially to female travelers. The person in the jeep could be following Lina with intentions of either hurting her or stealing whatever she has. That in itself didn't seem that plausible as it was a long way to tail someone for just one victim. If Lina were part of a bigger group she might have been worried that the person or persons in the jeep were intending to hurt her. As it was sure was sure that whomever was in the jeep was after the same thing she was, the lost city of Velnqxbos.

Even though Lina wasn't in any immediate danger she knew that there was still always potential for it travelling abroad. This is why Lina trained so hard. She was proficient in hand to hand combat situations and in using a variety of weapons. Often though Lina couldn't bring said weapons with her on the plane with her when she travelled so she had to either improvise or buy whatever she could to arm herself when she landed.

Despite getting weapons usually when faced with a dangerous situation Lina tended to just grab whatever was handy. In most cases it was her excavation tools. They were always a hassle to get on and off a plane (many permits and questions required) but they were worth the headache. Lina had never killed anyone with her tools yet but she had used them to knock people out.

Lina had confidence using her tools when it came to fighting someone who was also armed with a bladed or blunt weapon. Guns on the other hand were another story. As the saying goes never bring a knife to a gun fight well Lina wasn't about to actively fight someone with one of her tools or a knife if they had a gun on her. It was always best to just do whatever the gunned person initially wanted. This was one of the reasons why Lina tried to keep up on her physical training. For these type of situations Lina would give in to the gunman's demands and wait for her chance. And when the time was right she would get the gun out of her captors' hands or run away depending on the situation. It didn't seem like a very smart thing to do as Lina could easily mess up and get herself killed but Lina was a daredevil after all. And after going toe-to-toe with a revived homicidal god months ago Lina was feeling pretty invincible.

Mind you no matter how 'powerful' Lina felt she wasn't a stupid one. There were always risks and it was always best to be prepared. So attached to her belt resting on her left hip was a nice big sharp combat knife she had bought when she got the rest of her supplies. Lina would have preferred it to be a gun but guns were always hard to get a hold off even in the less law restrictive countries. Looking for one often had you ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. And even if one were to chance it the guns you ended up with were problematic. They could end up being old and/or broken leading you to having it lock up when you really needed it.

Sometimes Lina would get herself a crossbow to use as a means to defend herself but it was always a hassle to arm quickly. More often than naught Lina would just get a whole whack load of small throwing knives.

Petunia grunted out of boredom. He wasn't impressed by Lina's digging and dusting off rocks. To him there wasn't anything interesting to look at out here.

"Keep grunting all you want Petunia, it's not going to make me go faster." Lina warned her humped traveling companion with a laugh. 'He's almost as bad as Gourry. And here I thought I'd have the chance to work without someone moaning about how bored they were.' She thought to herself as she continued digging.

...

Zelgadis kept eying his engine temperature gauge as he drove. He was getting very tired of his jeep continuously crapping out on him. Though there wasn't much he could do. There was the quick fix of turning on the heater to draw out some of the heat from the engine but it wasn't like Zelgadis could stand driving with it on all the time.

A quick look at his compass told Zelgadis that he was still heading in the direction he wanted to be going. He had no idea how long it would be until he finally caught up to the mysterious person riding the camel. He was going at a pretty constant speed now so he figured that maybe he would catch up in an hour or so.

'No. No.' Zelgadis shook his head. 'Focus on the job at hand and not the person riding the camel who most likely isn't Lina!' He scolded himself. 'Now pay attention because the lost city could be anywhere coming up. You need to be able to spot any potential spot.'

This wasn't the first time Zelgadis mentally berated himself. Nor was it the first time he had done so when the subject at hand involved Professor Lina Inverse. That woman did have a way of getting under his skin both irritatingly and delightfully so.

Instead of the usual dunes of sand there were new things to look at outside Zelgadis' jeep. The terrain had sections of medium to large rocks. This in itself wasn't really enough to grab Zelgadis' attention but it did make him slow down as he looked around more closely.

Up ahead on his course was a big pile up of jagged rocks that looked very promising to Zelgadis. Geographically the area did make sense to where the lost city could be and the rock formations would make it harder to spot anything from an aerial view. It wasn't until Zelgadis was pulling over that he saw the bored looking camel staring at him.

"A camel?" Zelgadis said to himself as he got out of the jeep.

"Well, I wondered and I was correct." A rather smug voice sounded confusing Zelgadis more.

Zelgadis looked to the source of the voice and was shocked. She stood wearing a green robe and a head scarf to match. Most of her face was covered by the scarf leaving only her eyes and few stray locks of her hair to be seen. Despite being so covered up this sight was very exotically alluring. And even though he couldn't see her face too well he knew exactly who was standing before him. "Lina?" His voice almost cracked in betrayal as he spoke her name.

There was an impish smile tugging on Lina's lips as she moved the part of scarf covering her face away. He was dressed in clothing similar to hers but his was in shades of gray. It suited him of course like as if he was always meant to be wearing those colours. "Hi Zel. I was wondering when you'd show up."

"So it was you riding the camel ahead of me." Zelgadis mused.

"And it was you riding that jeep that kept crapping out. Seriously Zel? Why would you get a jeep for?"

"It's faster than a camel." Zelgadis countered.

"Camel's can last longer."

"Jeeps don't need food and water."

"Gas and other fluids can count for that." Lina ribbed him. "So that means I win."

Zelgadis let out a dark chuckle. "Have you found anything yet?"

"Whether I have or haven't is my business not yours. Now toddle off and let me get back to my work." Lina waved her hands at him in a shushing fashion knowing damned well that Zelgadis wasn't about to go away.

"Why should I leave for? I just got here."

"Because I got her first so this area is mine." Lina stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh? So you don't want to share?"

Lina rolled her eyes. "No I do not want to share. You think Headmaster Gaberieve would be happy if I came back to Greater Rixx with the knowledge that our school was going to have to share credit with yours? He'd kill me."

"Yeah Headmaster Sailune wouldn't be too happy either." Zelgadis agreed.

"At least your Headmaster is agreeable. If you pointed the positives of our two schools working together at least he'd be able to see it."

"That is true... still I don't really feel right about leaving you here all alone..." Zelgadis stated in mock concern.

"Yeah right. You just don't want to leave because you know that this is where the lost city is. And if you did leave you'd miss it all together." Lina taunted him.

"How can you be sure this is the area? That would imply that you've already found something that suggests this is the place but I'm sure you haven't. I think you're just guessing."

"Think what you want. In the end it's going to be me that's going to find the lost city of Velnqxbos!" Lina declared.

"Well just so you know I'm not the only person in the area that is looking for the lost city." Zelgadis warned her.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"I know you've seen my jeep break down quite a few times. And thank you so much for stopping to see if I was okay." Zelgadis stated sarcastically.

"You're welcome." Lina grinned like a naughty cat.

"Yeah yeah. Anyway one of those times that the jeep stopped on me I happen to catch sight of two people riding camels going the same direction that you and I were going."

Lina frowned. Right away she went through all the possible people that could be smart enough to figure out the translation error though she wasn't coming up with much. "Are you sure? Maybe the heat was just making you see things." She suggested.

"What a mirage? Please. No I know what I saw. It was two people. At first I thought it was you actually." Zelgadis admitted.

"Excuse me? You actually thought that you were ahead of me on something?! Yeah right! Like as if that would happen." Lina snorted.

"The only reason I thought it could have you was because there was two of them. And usually you're traveling around with your assistant Gourry. Which reminds me where is your assistant? Shouldn't he be with you?"

"Yeah... he broke his leg so I'm flying solo this time around."

"How did he break his leg? Was it on a relic hunt?"

"Nope. He broke it ice skating with his girlfriend."

Zelgadis frowned in confusion. "Girlfriend? Did he finally ask Sylphiel out?"

"No. She asked him and they've been together ever since."

"Hmm... good for them. Still doesn't help the mystery of who is trailing up behind us though. You know Lina even though you're a strong and resourceful woman there is a chance that those two people or anyone else around could be dangerous. It would be better if you weren't out here all alone." Zelgadis suggested.

Lina went back to rolling her eyes. "Oh shut up. You know damned well I'm fine on my own. Those two people are obviously other researchers and not dangerous people."

"Okay if that's the case then who the heck are they?" He dared her.

"I don't know! There are tones of universities all around the world looking for the lost city right now. It could be anyone." Lina exclaimed.

"So you don't know either then." Zelgadis chuckled.

"Doesn't matter. I know how to handle myself."

"Even still I'm not going to leave you here all by yourself." Zelgadis declared.

"I'm not going to share credit with you." She warned him.

"Doesn't matter. I'd hate myself forever if I left you alone and something happened to you." Zelgadis admitted.

Lina knew the second Zelgadis finished that sentence that she was blushing. They hadn't left things on a bad note the last time they had seen each other but things were unfinished. Zelgadis was supposed to take her out of a date and hadn't yet. Both of them had been far too busy. But that didn't mean that Lina didn't think about him constantly. "Well don't get all macho on my account. I'm not made of glass you know." She lowered her head avoiding Zelgadis' face.

"I know. You're the strongest person I know." Zelgadis brought hand to her face and gently tilted it so he was looking straight into her ruby red eyes. "And the most beautiful..."

Lina's heart was beating wildly and her breath was caught in her throat as Zelgadis leaned his face forward till it was only inches from hers. She could feel his warm breath dance across her face as his lips got ever so close to hers...

"OHOHOHOHOHO! What do we have here?!" A very loud annoying voice boomed forever ruining this magical moment.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter Seven, Who? What? Where? When? Why?

By Relm

Lina and Zelgadis were so in tuned with each other. At that moment they did the exact same thing. They both cringed and looked to the source of the offending noise.

Standing looking ever so arrogant and busty despite her loose fitting robes stood Naga, the eldest daughter of Headmaster Philonel Sailune. And leading their two camels was Zelgadis' assistant Xellos.

"Oh great Perky Chesterfield is here..." Lina grumbled while taking a step back from Zelgadis. Her face was fully flushed with embarrassment. Really of all the places she could be where she would be kissed passionately by a man like Zelgadis right in the middle of a desert should have been safe. But as always fate was a bitch. She never let Lina have any fun.

"Naga why are you here?!" Zelgadis exclaimed in annoyance. "And why did you bring _that_ with you?!" He motioned towards Xellos though it was obvious what Zelgadis meant when he said 'that'.

"You always go off on your own having all kinds of marvelous adventures! Is it so wrong that I, Naga the White Serpent would want to go on an adventure of my own? OHOHOHOHOH!" Naga threw her head back and laughed dramatically.

All Zelgadis could do was shake his head. "I can't believe your father allowed you to go... He does know you're here right?"

"Of course he does!" Naga exclaimed in annoyance. "How dare you imply that I would sneak off behind my father's back!"

"It's true, Miss Naga did ask her father." Xellos piped up. "He said yes with the condition that I must accompany her throughout the whole trip."

Zelgadis did not look impressed. "And you agreed that?"

"Well as Miss Lina has already pointed out Miss Naga is rather... 'perky'." Xellos winked rather suggestively.

"You brute!" Naga playfully hit Xellos on the arm. "Thank goodness we've found you Zelgadis. You can keep me safe from this sinful monster." Naga grabbed onto Zelgadis' arm and batted her eyelashes at him flirtatiously at him.

Inwardly Zelgadis was cringing. There were two people in the world that Zelgadis couldn't stand. One of them was latched to his arm while the other was holding the reins on their two camels. Any hope of salvaging his chance 'romantic' encounter with Professor Inverse was effectively crushed. Anywhere he went Naga and Xellos would surly follow making it impossible to get away anywhere alone with Lina. "Lucky me..."

"So Zelgadis-dearest have you found anything yet?" Naga wondered while playfully petting his arm.

"He hasn't found anything because this is my site." Lina declared as she got back to her digging. "Now why don't you just push off. The real professionals have work to do unlike vacationing deluded wannabes."

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! Sounds like someone is testy since she hasn't found anything!"

Lina glared at Naga. "I've only started looking you busty bimbo!"

"Too bad you're not going to find anything! OHOHOHOHOHOH!" Naga laughed loudly as she usually did.

"There! It's that damned noise again!" A male voice exclaimed from behind one of the dunes. "I heard it over there! What the hell is that?!"

"I already said I didn't know! So stop asking me!" An irritated female voice exclaimed in response.

Lina, Zelgadis, Naga and Xellos looked over to the direction the voice. Most them were confused but Xellos knew right away who the pair was. He had heard that angry female voice many times.

"What the hell...?!" Val exclaimed in confusion as he and Filia came over the dune riding their camels. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Val yelled as he hopped off his camel and stormed his way over to Xellos.

Filia shook her head in annoyance. Of all the horrible things she could end up facing on this type of expedition this was the worst kind.

"So I was right! It was your girlfriend chasing us after all!" Naga openly poked at Xellos.

"I AM NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!" Filia screamed.

"OHOHOHOHOHOH! And yet you still chaise after him! OHOHOHOHOH!"

"You! It was you! You're the source of that noise!" Val exclaimed abandoning his instant anger with Xellos and shifting it towards Naga. "I have been going crazy hearing your obnoxious laugh for the past few days!"

"And you're any angry one." Naga smiled a saucy smile. "What a terrifying beast you are. While I'll bet you could rip a man apart with just your bare hands." She sauntered over to him lightly stroked his right arm. "Yes you certainly could with all those firm muscles of yours."

Val blinked in confusion. His normal comfortable anger had turned into something that he wasn't used to. It wasn't like Val never got hit on but the women were never that forward or that beautiful. She was so tall that she was practically taller than him with silky raven hair that was a pleasant contrast to her creamy ivory skin. Her eyes were a sparkly blue and even though she was dressed in lose fitting robes it was obvious that she had a nice figure. Usually women like her chose to flirt with other men. He never knew why as he was sure he was just as good looking as other guys. But this woman was different and it completely threw him off his game. "I...um...ah...ah...um..." He mumbled not able to form proper words.

"OHOHOHOHOHOH! Looks like something doused that adorable fire of yours. Not that you being all tongue tied isn't just as adorable."

Now Val frowned. "Adorable? That's what you call little babies or fluffy kittens! I am not a fluffy kitten!" He growled.

"That's right Val isn't a fluffy kitten." Xellos agreed putting a condescending arm around Val's shoulders. "He's just a big baby."

"WHY YOU!" Val turned to punch Xellos in the face but the offending purple haired imp dodged and ran to hide behind Filia.

"Get away from me!" Filia snapped while whapping Xellos on the head.

"Why? You make such a nice lovely shield. You're already so wide in the hip area and the robes make you look that much larger. You could probably hide a whole country behind this ass of yours."

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Filia whipped out a mace from under her robe and proceeded to try and bash Xellos' skull in. Naturally he was far too spry to fall victim to Filia's spiked weapon of choice.

Xellos tried to use Zelgadis as a shield but the East Rixx professor wasn't about to let his assistant to do that. The second Xellos was in arms reach Zelgadis grabbed him and held him in place. "NOOOOO!" Xellos screeched but it was in vain.

_SMASH!_

Xellos fell to the ground in pain but with only a mild bruise. Filia was angry but she wasn't really about to kill the guy.

"Awww... it's always so sad when lovers fight." Naga mused with a sly smile.

"WE ARE NOT LOVERS!" Filia screamed waving her mace in the air.

"No Filia you are not hitting the pretty lady with the mace!" Val grabbed the weapon from his step-sister. "I don't even know how the hell you got this through airport security."

"OHOHOHOH! So my adorable beast thinks I am pretty?" Naga swooned. "Oh I am going to have to keep you!" Naga latched onto Val's arm.

"I am not ADORABLE! I am strong, fearless and powerful!" Val clarified.

"And mine." Naga added while squeezing Val's bulging bicep and giggling girlishly.

Val wanted to say something angrily in response but he was blushing too much to do so.

"Are you unhappy that your little girlfriend has dumped you and moved on?" Lina teased Zelgadis with a smug grin on her face.

"She was never my girlfriend and you know that. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleased with her finding someone else to latch onto." Zelgadis admitted.

"They do make an adorable couple don't they?" Lina laughed.

Val shot her a nasty glare though it was hard to take it serious as the aqua haired man was still red as a tomato in the face.

"Miss Naga you do realize that he's from a rival university." Xellos pointed out. "I highly doubt your father would be too pleased with you claiming Val as your own."

"I do not care! My father will have to be fine with my choice as I'm sure he would not want to make his favourite daughter unhappy!" Naga declared.

"Your sister Amelia might be unhappy with you suggesting that you are your father's favorite and not her but alas that is beside the point Miss Naga. Your father was fine with your choice of Zelgadis why would you be so quick to cast him aside?" Xellos pointed out.

Zelgadis glared at Xellos. 'He damn well better not get Naga's attention back on me when it's finally shifted to someone else!'

Naga looked between both men with interest. "Oh Xelly Xelly. He's already scorned you once before clearly Val's not interested in men. So trying to make me go back to Zelgadis won't do your cause any good. Val is never going to like you the same way you like him."

Zelgadis, Lina and Filia burst into fits of laughter while Xellos frowned.

"Miss Naga..." Xellos groaned.

"That fruitcake has a thing for me?!" Val exclaimed with obvious disgust.

"He 'claims' he only loves the blond woman but how could he not be smitten with you too? Look at you, you're magnificent." Naga purred.

"I do NOT love that woman!" Xellos exclaimed pointing at Filia with obvious annoyance.

"OHOHOHOHOH! Funny how the pretty boy gets all huffy when I suggest he's in love with a woman but he barely has anything to say when I state he lusts after men!"

"Miss Naga!" Xellos whined. "Must you be so mean to me?"

Lina rolled her eyes and went back to her work. "Okay show's over everyone can leave now. I have a lost city to find and I can't do it with all you clowns hanging around."

"Why should we have to leave for?" Naga exclaimed with her nose up in the air. "The lost city does not belong to you and you only."

"This site does as I WAS HERE FIRST!" Lina roared in frustration. She was so distracted that she barely noticed the strange circular shaped object when she started to brush where she had dug. It wasn't until she heard a gasp come out of Zelgadis' that she looked down.

"Lina do you know that is?!" Zelgadis exclaimed kneeling down next to her.

"It's an altar stone isn't it?!" She looked to Zelgadis with obvious excitement.

"Yes! Look at the engravings! Those symbols look far too old to be Jhonwxan... Lina you might have found the first real piece of Velnqxbos."

"I can't believe it!" Lina cried out in happiness. "I wonder what these symbols mean..."

"Well think about how long it took for that tablet to be translated. And this language is far older than that of the tablet. Lina this could take a lifetime to understand." Zelgadis pointed out.

Lina nodded. That was always the case with relics. The glory went to those that first found it and those who discovered its mysteries. Often it wasn't the same person that got both honors but to have one was still a great achievement. Looking down at the altar stone Lina tried to imagine was it must have looked like. It was brownish gray in colour but Lina could tell at one point it had been a vibrant orange yellow. The center of the stone was smooth while the edges of the circle had symbols etched into it. Some of the symbols were somewhat easy to see but others were badly faded from erosion. Looking at the stone Lina couldn't help but be struck with the notion that the smooth center of the stone was like a button waiting to be pressed. And like all humans it was hard to resist a button so Lina went to push it.

Of course it was an altar stone not a magic button so nothing should have happened when Lina pushed on the center surface. It shouldn't have given way with the pressure of her fingers and it certainly shouldn't have bathed them all in a sudden wash of amber light.

But it had.

When the light faded there was something very different about the desert they were supposed to be in. For one thing it wasn't dry and hot, it was warm and humid. They weren't surrounded by endless miles of sand but lush tropical trees and exotic flowers. Birds were chirping, fury animals howled from the trees and bugs flew over head making buzzing sounds. Off in the distance the sound of running water blended in with the sounds of the jungle area they had suddenly been transported to.

Petunia grunted but otherwise the six travelers and other two camels were quiet. Camels didn't care but the travelers were just too stunned to say anything.

How did they get there? And where is 'there'?


	8. Chapter 8

**Ruins Raiders: Book Two**

Chapter Eight,

By Relm

"What... THE HELL?!" Val exclaimed in confused annoyance. "What the hell happened?! Where are we?! How did we get here?!"

They were all very good valid questions that Val asked and they deserved to be answered with good informative explanations but Val didn't get anything but silence. Some of them might have inklings to the answers to some of Val's questions but no one knew anything for sure so they kept their mouth shut.

Lina's inkling was that that altar stone she had in her hand was the cause of this sudden scenery change. The timing was just too coincidental for it not to be caused by the stone but that in itself baffled Lina. It had just been a stone after all not a transporter or time machine. The center had looked like a button and Lina had pressed it but it hadn't been a button. That didn't make sense. If the stone had been some space age machine then it wouldn't have looked like a stone. It was old and had ancient symbols on it.

Looking down at the stone in Lina's hand Lina's eyes went wide. She was sure it was still there but when she looked she realized the stone was gone. Things were just getting weirder and weirder.

Zelgadis had been looking at Lina when she had pressed the 'button' so he was just as surprised to see the stone was no longer in the redhead's hand. It didn't make sense but Zelgadis looked around hoping to get an answer from their surroundings. Many of the trees were foreign to Zelgadis as was the flowers he saw. The bugs that flew around were much larger and more menacing looking. Nothing looked familiar to Zelgadis. It was like they had been transported onto another planet.

Looking further and upwards Zelgadis was greeted with a sight that almost made him gasp. Peeking out from atop of the trees was a massive pyramid. From the distance they were it was hard to make out the finer details of stone structure but Zelgadis knew right away it wasn't a pyramid he'd seen or studied before. The style of it though was familiar and Zelgadis knew right away why the altar stone in Lina's hand had disappeared.

"Lina... Look..." Zelgadis pointed to the pyramid.

Lina turned around and looked to where he was pointing. The question of whether or not the stone was a transportation device was answered. "Oh... shit..."

"What?! What's going on?! Do you know where we are?!" Val exclaimed still annoyed that his questions were being ignored.

"Yeah..." Lina let out a deep sigh.

"Why do you look so disturbed for?! Shouldn't knowing be a good thing?!" Val grilled Lina while getting more and more frustrated.

"Not in this case Val." Filia answered her step brother.

"Well then what is it Filia?! What's going on?! Where are we?!"

"Exactly where we were." Filia explained rather cryptically.

Val growled in frustration. "Why can't I get a straight damned answer?!"

"Because it doesn't make a lot of sense that's why." Lina muttered. "Where we are is right in the middle of the desert just north east of Uouoong, the capital city of Jhonwxa."

"No we're not! We are in the middle of a damned jungle! Not a desert! Why would you say such a stupid thing?!" Val growled even louder.

"Because it's the truth Val!" Filia yelled back. "That pyramid over there is Velnqxbosian. And in our present day time none of the pyramids are left standing. And seeing how we're where Velnqxbos is supposed to be it's safe to assume that we're not in the present but the past."

"But this is a jungle..."

"Velnqxbos was a jungle city. Jhonwxa was a jungle area ages ago. No one is even sure what caused the massive climate change in the area but we know that it did happen." Filia explained.

"That still doesn't make sense! How did we travel back in time?!"

"Um... that's probably my fault..." Lina admitted.

Everyone looked at Lina questioningly. Well not Zelgadis or the camels. Zelgadis knew what Lina meant and the camels didn't really care as they were camels after all.

"OHOHOHOHOHOH! And what did you do little girl?" Naga stood tall looking down at Lina in a haughty sort of a way.

"Don't you get all high and mighty with me boobs!" Lina glared at Naga angrily. "You don't even belong here so you have no right to look down at me!"

"How can I not? You are a short little shrimp after all!" Naga smirked evil while turning her nose up in the air. "Maybe when you grow up you'll grow some boobs of your own to match! OHOHOHOHOHOH!"

"I am full grown, I'm not a shrimp and THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE SIZE OF MY CHEST!" Lina yelled while hitting Naga over the head with her shoe.

"Now now Professor Inverse I think it would be best if you didn't hit Miss Naga over the head with blunt objects." Xellos interfered getting between her and Naga.

Lina did as she was asked and stopped hitting Naga. She hit Xellos instead.

"OW! Zelgadis save me!" Xellos cried out while feebly trying to shield his head from blow of Lina's shoe.

"Never going to happen." Zelgadis shook his head.

"Why is us being here your fault Professor Inverse?" Filia wondered while ignoring Xellos' whining. His screams of pain were always music to her ears anyway.

"Well you know that altar stone I had in my hands... well the center reminded me of a button... so I pressed it... and now we're here..." Lina explained sheepishly.

"So what? That little stone sling shot us back in time?! That's crazy!" Val scoffed. And he was right to scoff it was ridiculous after all.

"And yet we're here." Filia sighed looking around.

"Really? We're really back in time?! OHOHOHOHOHOH! This is an adventure!" Naga exclaimed while clapping her hands excitedly.

"This is not an adventure Naga, this is a disaster!" Zelgadis sighed.

"Why? It's fun!"

"No you bubble head it's not!" Lina growled. "We have no idea what this land was like during this time. There could be all kinds of dangerous things ready to kill us here. We have no idea how the native people will respond to strange foreigners invading their land. And to top it all off we're in the past! Anything we do here could drastically alter the future. It could be something as simple as accidently stepping on a bug and poof! No more human kind!"

"OHOHOHOHOHOH! Aren't you being a little dramatic?"

"She's not really." Zelgadis interjected. "But Lina you do realize this is a golden opportunity we have here."

Lina raised an eyebrow while unconsciously swatting away an offending insect buzzing near her ear. She had just talked about how killing a bug could have catastrophic results but yet there she was still swatting away. "What are you talking about Zel?"

"Zel? She calls you Zel?" Xellos picked up on the nickname with obvious glee.

"Can it idiot!" Lina smacked him with her shoe again.

"Ahem. Well we are in the past and just a stone's throw away from one of the most mysterious cities of all time. Everything that people know about Velnqxbos is based on very little evidence and a lot of guessing. Think about all the things we could learn about the Velnqxbosian people! This is better than just uncovering an ancient text or a precious relic! We don't have to guess about what happened in the past we actually get to see history!" Zelgadis exclaimed his eyes afire with childlike excitement.

"Really? Zelgadis Greywars I'm shocked to hear you say such a thing!" Lina shook her head. "You're supposed to be the level-headed one. You know damned well how dangerous and stupid it is to stay here. If we do anything or let the natives see us we could destroy the future. You would risk it just for what? A childhood time travel fantasy? Who are you and what have you done with my Zel?!" Truthfully Lina would have jumped at the chance to see history but it was just too irresponsible.

Zelgadis lowered his head in shame. She was right of course but he still got a jolt of satisfaction when Lina referred to him as 'her Zel'. "Alright Lina you win. Staying here is dangerous and irresponsible. Plus it would be cheating getting all the answers. We're archeologists. We study the past and make discoveries by piecing together puzzles time has left behind."

"Good. Glad we're clear on that."

"You know there is another possibility we're not considering." Xellos piped up with a finger in the air.

Lina glared at him. She knew she didn't want to hear what Zelgadis' annoying assistant had to say as it was likely to be as tedious as the man speaking it. "What Xellos?!"

"Maybe we're not trespassing in time but fulfilling a timeline of events that are supposed to happen. Perhaps we were always meant to come here and by doing nothing at all we actually cause the downfall of the future that we are meaning to avoid. History may have observed six mysterious foreigners and three camels visiting the people of Velnqxbos but it was never recorded because of whatever caused the city's demise."

"This is a jungle land and camels are desert creatures... are camels even indigenous to here?" Val wondered somewhat ignoring what Xellos was saying.

"No they were brought here with immigrants well after this area became desert land." Filia explained.

"You're not listening to me! We could be the reason why the city of Velnqxbos became lost!"

Lina frowned. She didn't like that idea one bit. "We cause the death and destruction of Velnqxbos? So that's your plan? Go in, obverse and then cause drop a bomb on them?!"

"Well no... I don't think we should try and kill everyone. But if history has us accidently causing the downfall of Velnqxbos then that is a fate we shouldn't avoid." Xellos countered.

"No. We're not doing that. We're going to avoid any contact with anything here and getting the hell back to our own time! And that's final!" Lina declared.

"Awww... But I wanted an adventure..." Naga mumbled in disappointment.

"Can it boobs!" Lina growled.

"I agree with Professor Inverse in the fact that it would be very irresponsible to stay here any longer than we need to be but I do have one question." Filia piped up looking worried. "How exactly are we going to get back to our time?"

"Obviously Filia we'll use that stone again. Duh!" Val rolled his eyes at his sister.

Lina looked to Zelgadis for help but she knew there was nothing he could do to help her on this one. "I agree using the stone would be the best thing to try... but I don't have the stone."

"What do you mean you don't have the stone?! What did you lose it?! You just had it a moment ago!"

"Yes when we were in our time. When we showed up here the stone wasn't in my hand anymore." Lina explained.

"So where the hell is the stone?!"

"Well if I was to venture a guess... then I would say the altar stone is probably back in its altar." Zelgadis said with a sigh as he looked over at the pyramid poking over the trees.

"Looks like we're going to Velnqxbos after all!" Xellos smiled.

Lina rolled her eyes. She had a very bad feelings about this.


End file.
